Sheriff defends hiring practices

By
Chad Selweski, The Macomb Daily

Friday, April 26, 2013

After dismissing more than 25 reserve deputies following the 2012 election, Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham is adding 13 reserves, renewing accusations that the ’12 purge was targeted at those who supported the sheriff’s campaign opponent.

Wickersham said the new additions, adding to the manpower in five units, are designed to fill new needs. A “short, abbreviated” police academy will be conducted to train the 13 rookies.

“I don’t think I really need to explain it,” the sheriff said. “When I see a need, I fill it.”

In January, Wickersham said he only dumped those reserves who failed to make the grade, and that his actions had no connection to which reserves — the volunteer officers that serve on an occasional basis — backed his primary election opponent, Sheriff’s Department retiree Greg Stone.

But the dismissed reserves, including department veterans who held key positions, remain bitter about the purge. They say the decisions about who to cut are inexplicable, other than a Wickersham effort to demand a loyalty oath.

Apparently, none of those victimized by the downsizing were offered the opportunity to fill the new openings. One former reserve officer who casually supported Stone and remains bitter about the election-year sequence of events, said he would never accept a call-back.

“I’m not going to work for an a------ like that who tramples on my First Amendment rights and tells his lieutenants in a meeting that if they don’t feel like he can lead the department, they don’t need to work for him,” said Ray Selman of Macomb Township, who was a longtime reserve in the All-Terrain Vehicle unit.

While reserves are required to volunteer at least 40 hours annually, the November review of who to dismiss was conducted when Selman had already logged 175 hours for 2012.

Wickersham has repeatedly denied that revenge played any role in personnel decisions for the reserve units.

“Every year we would review our numbers and those who didn’t have enough hours and those who had ‘issues’ or whatever, they would be released,” Wickersham said.

“Sometimes … if you have too many, if a unit is too big, too uncontrollable, we may reduce the numbers so that the reserves don’t become a burden for the lieutenants” who are full-time officers but serve as liaisons to a reserve unit.

Some purged reserves say they had not previously experienced a yearly review, and former sheriff Mark Hackel, now the county executive, has said that he handled potential dismissals on a case-by-case basis.

Under new alignment, the number of reserve deputies will rise from 262 to 275. Though they are not paid, the reserves contribute their own equipment, such as motorcycles, ATV off-road vehicles, planes and even helicopters.

The additions are: three for the computer crimes unit; four for the Marine Division; three for the ATV unit, one for the bicycle-bound reserves; and two for the aviation unit.

The units serve in ceremonial ways, such as participating in parades or special events, but they also assist at crime scenes, with investigations, and at crowd control situations. The Marine Division that patrols Lake St. Clair, in particular, is heavily dependent on the reserves to maintain its effectiveness.

After being appointed sheriff in January 2011 to succeed Hackel, Wickersham easily defeated Stone in the August 2012 Democratic primary and coasted to victory in November.

When The Macomb Daily first reported on a perceived political connection to the sudden cutbacks, only Selman was willing to talk. But several purged reserves subsequently sent emails to the newspaper backing up Selman’s version of events and expressing their bitterness toward a seeeming lack of gratitude for their service.

One woman who was afraid to be identified said she was stunned by her dismissal after years of service to the Sheriff’s Department. She said she may have been targeted because her daughter worked on the Stone campaign.

One former reserve who has stepped forward is Gary Lewandowski of Clinton Township. While he does not blame Wickersham for his dismissal, Lewandowski wonders if he was pinpointed mistakenly because another reserve who supported Stone is married to a woman whose maiden name is Lewandowski.

An avowed supporter of the sheriff, Lewandowski served for 14 years on the motorcycle and ATV units and logged about 100 hours a year. In an anguished farewell letter to his reserve colleagues, Lewandowski said he “felt broadsided and was in total shock” when he got the axe.

“There isn’t a person in the Motor Unit who doesn’t think this is a travesty,” Lewandowski said in a phone interview. He has moved on, serving as an auxiliary officer for the Hazel Park Police Department.

“After all the years I gave and my commitment to the organization, above and beyond the call of duty, and being a member of two units, I’m done with them.”